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Festival of Quilts 2016 – The Winners

The Festival of Quilt in Birmingham, England, is over and it was a great show. Large, airy and well lit exhibition halls filled with color and texture. Lots of quilts, traditional and contemporary and many vendors. A place where you could get inspired, watch demonstrations, chat with other quilters and you could even touch quilts (thank you Claire Benn und Ingrid Press for this possibility!).

Here are the winners in the different categories:

Best of Show and winner of the Traditional Quilts category

“Infinity” by Sandy Chandler of Launceston, Great Britain.

A traditional wholecloth quilt. Sandy drew the design on paper and then traced it onto fabric. The quilting was done with a hand-guided longarm quilting machine.

Winner of Fine Art Quilt Masters

“Criminal Quilt” by Ruth Singer, Leicester, Great Britain.

Artist’s statement: This hand embroidered and appliquéd quilt is part of a series inspired by photographs of women criminals, using the hands as a poignant motif. The piece reflects the layers of history and the semi-hidden nature of these women’s lives in the historical record.

Winner of the Modern Quilts category

“Office Doodle 1” by Sarah Humphreys, Leeds, Great Britain.

Winner of the Art Quilts category

“Ruins 6” by Leah Higgins, Eccles, Great Britain. Leah used her own hand dyed and printed fabric and did a lot of surface design.

Artist’s statement: Ruin 6 is inspired by what happens to buildings and cities when we close down factories; when we abandon industries. The death of coal mining and steel, the impact of global recession. South Wales, Teeside, Detroit. Empty, still spaces. Derelict and decaying. Rust, moss, graffiti. Dark skeletons on the horizon.

Each year the Quilter’s Guild of the British Isles issues a challenge for the Festival of Quilts. This year the theme was “On the Beach”. And the winner is

“52 32’N, 04 03W” by Laura Kemshall, Bridgnorth, Great Britain.

The winner of the Contemporary Quilts category

“Paradise in Bloom” by Robyn Fahy, Drumquin, Great Britain.

This winner came as a surprise to me. Although the quilt is stunning it was made from a commercial pattern by Judy Niemeyer of Quiltworx which was stated by the quilter in her description of the quilt. And the category called for original designs. Obviously this judge wasn’t too attentive.

The winner of the Group Quilts category

“Dyeversity” by 7 members of the group Sussex Spectrum, Great Britain.

The winner of the Miniature Quilts category

“Other Places” by Sandra Newton, Kennington, Great Britain. This quilt is painted, printed, appliquéd, machine and hand quilted and uses cotton, tissue paper and Lutrador. And all this on a quilt which is 30 cm/12 inches on the longer side.

The winner of the Two Person Quilts category

“Vintage Moments” by Mary Telford (patchwork) and Janette Chilver (quilting), Great Britain. This quilt was also made using a commercial pattern by Marsha McCloskey – this category did not call for original work.

Winner in the category Pictorial Quilts

“New Beginning” by Elfriede Grooten, Dalen, Netherlands. This quilt is about the queen bee leaving the hive with some of her workers to find a new home and create a new hive. All the bees are handmade by Elfriede Grooten.

Winner of the category Quilt Creations (clothing, wearable art and three dimensional pieces)

“All that Remains” by Jane Bonney, Wokingham, Great Britain.

Artist’s statement: Inspired by the discovery of Richard III’s remains. The cope is made up of symbolically embellished rainbow panels and represents the establishments involvement in the re internment. After all the excitement, after all the pomp and ceremony, all that remains are bones, no crown, no regalia. Like any other skeleton just bones.

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About me

Hi, I'm Gabi and I live in Vienna, Austria in the middle of Europe.
Quiltartnews is all about my adventures in patchwork and quilting as well as glimpses into my life and the occasional travel photos.
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